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“You sure messaged him yesterday on one of those dating apps you kids have. Good for you. You’ll go great together, you two.”
“I’m twenty-two, the same age as Andy.”
“I know but I still see him as my little boy. Same with you. I close my eyes and you’re still just that little girl that came out of the woods all them years ago back when my dad was sheriff.” He looks up at the ceiling for a moment. “Got to admit I was wrong about you? I thought you’d be in trouble when dad came home and told us what happened.” There’s a faraway look in his eyes before he fixes his gaze back on me. “I sure hope your date goes all right tonight. You treat my boy right, won’t you?”
“No doubt Andy will tell you all about it when he gets back.”
“Doesn’t tell me nothing, that boy. Thinks because I’m his dad and the sheriff, that I might arrest him for the slightest little thing he does that’s out of line.” He shrugs. “Maybe he’s right. Anyways, what can I do for you? Didn’t just come here to accuse Mr. Lauria of theft, did you?”
“So you’re not going to arrest him?”
“For what?”
“Trying to steal my purse. He’s a thief.”
“Alleged thief. Got any witnesses?”
“The diner was full. Someone will have seen something.”
“I doubt it. Listen, take my advice and let it go.” He closes his notepad. “Now is there anything else you want from me?”
“I was wondering if there was any chance you found my file yet?”
“Your file?” He looks left and right and there’s a shifty expression that comes onto his face that I don’t like. “I thought I told you last time, it’s gone missing.” He goes back to his coffee, and takes another swig. “Get you a drink?”
“No, thanks.” My eyes are watering from the fumes wafting out of his mouth. “I’m just thinking there might be somewhere you missed. Would you mind taking another look through your dad’s stuff?”
He sighs, rolling his eyes. “I’ll see if I can dig it out for you, all right? Just don’t get your hopes up. Got three rooms at home full of papers and files, none of it organized.”
“You never thought of getting an actual computer that can connect to the Internet, and maybe, you know, actually store case files online?”
He laughs, calling across to one of the deputies. “Hey, Dotty. Chloe thinks her file might be online.”
Dorothy barks out a laugh, clapping her hand over the phone’s mouthpiece. “And I should have married Mel Gibson back when he was hot but I’m still here punching a damn in and out card every day like this is a factory floor.” She returns to her call with a loud sigh. “So, anyway, I says to Mabel…”
Walter shrugs. “Sorry, kid. We’ll get around to scanning in all the old stuff someday. Maybe when Tom Blizzard gets back in and we get the budget increase he keeps promising.”
He sees the look on my face and he manages a comforting smile. “It’s just one of those things. I’ve got a whole room full of unsolved cases. Enough to make your head spin if you think about any of them too much.”
“What about a DNA test?”
“What about one?”
“Maybe you could take one from me. Compare it to some database or something. See if there are any family matches?”
“Gee, I don’t know. Those things cost a heck of a lot of money.”
“Please, Walter. It’s killing me not knowing what happened to my parents.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way but I don’t think you’re going to find the answers you’re looking for at the end of some lab report.”
“Could we at least try it?”
He picks up the pencil and scrawls something on his pad. “Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll book you in for the test and get County to do what they can when the results come back. That make you happy?”
“That would make me very happy.”
“Then I’ll get back to you as soon as it’s booked in. Might be a while. They’ve got a backlog of months. I’ll hunt up that file as well in the meantime, let you look through it as long as you want.”
